CFL commissioner Mark Cohon talks to Reddit on video games, expansion, Rush, and Gandalf

The CFL has announced a plan to make this year's 102nd Grey Cup the most social one ever, and as part of that initiative, they had outgoing commissioner Mark Cohon do an Ask Me Anything session on Reddit Tuesday evening. Cohon fields plenty of questions during a typical Grey Cup week, of course, both from the media at the annual State of the League press conference and from fans at the later Fans' State Of The League event he started (both of which take place Friday), but the Reddit audience is somewhat different and can produce some more unconventional questions. Cohon got into the spirit of the event, answering most of the questions he received and displaying a sense of humour in the process, and his responses provide both some fun moments and some serious information on where the league's going. Here are screengrabs of some of the best questions and answers. First, Cohon's discussion of his favourite bands and his preferred successor:

The clear takeaway here is that the commissioner should be more involved in the selection of Grey Cup halftime shows, as both Rush and The Sheepdogs would be amazing acts (and huge upgrades over the likes of Nickelback). At least The Sheepdogs performed pre-game last year; the Holy Trinity have never played at the Grey Cup, which is probably also depriving the big game of Paul Rudd and Jason Segel (and possibly the Trailer Park Boys). Gandalf also is an excellent choice as a replacement for league commissioner, as he's proven quite useful at uniting squabbling factions, removing bad influences and saving the day. He may contribute to the decline of passing offence, though... Cohon did take on some more serious topics, and one of the notable ones was his response to the ongoing video game question:

On the one hand, it's positive that dialogue's continuing with Madden publishers EA, as they produce the most well-known football product out there (and Madden's developers have reportedly already made a working CFL variant). On the other hand, though, EA's releases are of such massive scale that it's hard to see them showing much interest in a CFL product. It may work better for the league to explore partnering with smaller or independent studios for a smaller-scale, less extensive release. The discussion of mobile games isn't a bad one, though; all sorts of games have been made relatively cheaply for iOS or Android platforms, including some football simulations, and at a $5 or $10 price point, a CFL game there might prove quite popular (and much more sustainable than a $60 or $70 current-generation console release). It doesn't seem likely this issue will be resolved in Cohon's remaining time, but a video game of some sort or another is something the next commissioner should work on; it's tough to think of a better way for the CFL to attract and engage the younger demographics it craves.

Other serious issues Cohon addressed included the league's current struggles in Toronto and the prospects of future Atlantic expansion:

Not all of the Reddit questions were useful or interesting; some were rather dumb (bias against certain teams, chances of a CFL and NFL exhibition game, etc), but Cohon generally dealt with those well by either ignoring them or giving the obvious answer (yes, the CFL and NFL aren't going to play against each other any time soon). On the whole, this was a useful conversation, and one that explored some different important topics (like the video game front) that are rarely discussed by the league's press corps. Good on Cohon and the CFL for encouraging interaction online and promoting the league via Reddit rather than just sticking to the traditional in-person press conferences.